Lithuania
is situated in the middle of Europe on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea with
a coastline of 100 km. In the North, Lithuania borders on Latvia, in the East
Belarus and in the South Poland and Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation.

The present territory of the country covers
65,000 km2 and is thus one and a half
times as big as Switzerland. The landscape is plain, the highest point is
the hill Juozapines with its 300 m above sea level. Inland water areas cover 4%
of the territory. Comparing to the other two Baltic states Lithuania has the
most agriculture. Forests occupy 27% of the land area. In the deciduous and
mixed forests live wild sows and deer, the nordic coniferous forests shelter
elks, lynx and even wolves.

The temperate climate as well as the great
variety of fauna and flora can be explained by the geographic position of
Lithuania. The climate is a mixture of marine and continental. The average mean
temperature in July is + 17°C and in January - 5°C.

80% of the 3,7 million inhabitants are
ethnic Lithuanians. 33% of the population live in the rural areas. They consider
themselves Roman Catholics. The Catholic Church accomplished a great deal in the
preservation of the identity of the country and of Lithuanian culture itself
during the atheistic Soviet government. Lithuanian is a representative of the
Baltic group of the indo-European languages. Currently, only Latvian is closely
related to it.

The today’s national flag of Lithuania
was laid down in 1918 and after the Soviet occupation restitued. The three
colours symbolize the most noble mental values of the people in Lithuania and
the beauty of the country.

Yellow: the sun, represent light and welfare

Green: stands for the beauty of the nature, for
hope and delight

Red: symbolize the blood, the life and the soil,
things that the Lithuanians defended with boldness and a spirit of
self-sacrifice in their fight for freedom

The Lithuanian coat of arms originally
dates from 1366 and is thus one of the oldest state coat of arms in Europe. It
presents a Lithuanian horseman (vytis) who defends his home country.

The essential history of Lithuania begins
in the 1230ies, as the Grand Duke Mindaugas established the Grand Duchy of
Lithuania. Teutonic Knights tried repeatedly to colonialize the country and
convert its people to Christianity. This only offered more resistance against
their eastward expansion and speeded up the unification of the forces of the
individual duchies. Duke Vytautas expanded into the lands of the eastern Slavs
and extended the state border all the way to the shores of the Black Sea. 1386
began the 400-year common history of Lithuania and Poland as they were united to
one country. In the 17th century it continued to diminish in strength. Following
the third partition of the Republic Lithuania-Poland in 1795 the Grand Duchy of
Lithuania was handed over to Russia. Lithuania disappeared from the political
map.

In February 1920 Lithuania proclaimed national
independence. The freedom which was so hard defended in the independece war of
1919-20 was abruptly finished by the secret Hitler-Stalin-Pact of 1939.
Lithuania fell into the Soviet sphere of influence. In 1941 Germany attacked the
Soviet Union and occupied the whole of Lithuania. A massive destruction of the
Jews was launched, claiming 200'000 lives. In 1944 the Red Army crossed the
Lithuanian border again. Lithuania began to be treated as a part of the Soviet
Union.

The breakthrough in the transition to a renewed
statehood came in 1991.

The capital Vilnius, the „green town“
(1/3 of its area is covered by parks and green spaces), has about 600'000
inhabitants. 50% of them are Lithuanian, 20% each Russian and Polonian.

The brick-built octagonal Gediminas Tower has
became a symbol of the town as well as of the national identity. From the
platform you get an impressive view on the whole town.

A destination worth while is the castle of Trakai
(27 km Southeast of Vilnius). The medieval gotic castle lies on an island and
has become a kind of a national shrine. The village Trakai is and old town worth
seeing.

The Museum of Devil in Kaunas is filled
with the most different objects of Devil. This unique collection shows the
difference between the Lithuanian folklore and the Christian religion as far as
the view of devil is concerned. In the Lithuanian mythology devil is something
of a trickster and the great magician and can not be compared with the Satan of
the Christians.

The main attraction of Siauliai is the
hill of the crucifixes, a symbol of the new strenghtened Catholicism and of the
independence of the country.

The National Park Spit of Kurzeme is a
landscape of a very special and unique nature. It is a narrow promontory of sand,
100 km in length,. Sandy deserts alternate with huge pin and birch woods. The
spit is a holiday maker’s paradise which belongs to the most beautiful tourist
destinations in Europe.